First Taste: The restaurants at Belterra Park

Fruit display at the Market Buffet at Belterra Park Gaming and Entertainment Center in Anderson Township.(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)Buy Photo

Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center, the new racino in Anderson Township, opened Thursday night. Sure, there are 1,500 video slot games and there's live thoroughbred racing, but we what wanted to know was: How's the food?

Luckily, Belterra Park has put some thought into the menus at its restaurants, hiring chefs who are excited about the food they're cooking and serving.

Here are a few of the best things we ate during Thursday's media preview, plus a few things we would skip the next time around.

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(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

Stadium Sports Bar & Grill

Confession: Neither of us are sports bar regulars. But the food at Stadium – which Belterra officials described as a "sports bar on steroids," with 50 HDTVs – won us over with its beyond-your-typical-sports-bar fare.

• Shauna: I really liked these nachos. The portion is huge – they're definitely meant for sharing – but they're not just about quantity. The fresh grilled veggies really made them; I went back for more, despite the fact that I had lots of other things to try.

• Polly: Ditto. I wouldn't try to tackle them without a couple of friends, but, with enough help, I'd demolish them.

• Shauna: I don't like most fried pickles, but I really liked these. The breading was great – not too thick, and crispy in all the right places. The dipping sauce was good, too: creamy with just a little zest.

• Shauna: I don't think I've ever met a tater tot I didn't like; they're one of my ultimate guilty pleasure foods. These are topped with cheddar sauce, bacon and sour cream; what's not to like?

• Polly: Tots! Apparently, according to corporate chef Keith Keogh, we are in the tater tot belt: the upper Midwest. I'm good with that.

Pepperoni pizza (8-inch, $12; 16-inch, $20.50):

• Shauna: This was a miss for me. It was a little greasy, yet the crust seemed dry, and the sauce had a spicy flavor that I wasn't crazy about.

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(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

The Stadium Challenge: 6 pounds of Queen City mett in a 2-pound bun with Empress Chili, and a pile of fries ($50). Eat it in 45 minutes, and it's yours, along with an apron and your photo on the wall forever.

• Polly: Oh, NO. Don't do it. Don't even try.

Favorites

Favorites Steak & Pasta is the most upscale of the restaurants at Belterra Park, with nice windows for watching the horses race while you eat. The menu is made up of restaurant staff members' favorite dishes.

• Shauna: Maybe it's because I'd just eaten fried food at Stadium, but this tasted really refreshing. I really liked the inclusion of yellow tomatoes along with the red, and they tasted fresh.

• Polly: Simple, classic and delicious.

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(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

Bananamisu: mascarpone layered with nilla wafers, served with caramelized bananas with sauce ($8).

• Shauna: The chef described this as banana pudding meets tiramisu, and it was as good as that sounds. It had a nice, thick caramel sauce underneath it, too. Our group of four killed this fast; everyone liked it.

• Polly: I'm looking forward to eating a whole steak. The sauce was interesting; it was a little more vinegary than from a bottle, but lighter, too.

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(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

Burger Brothers

This small restaurant is in the part of the building that families who come for the races can visit, as it's outside the gaming floor. And it's open until at least 4 a.m. (Sunday-Thursday; on Fridays and Saturdays, it stays open until 6 a.m.), so late-night gamblers can grab a burger, footlong coney or three-way. (The latter two use Empress chili.)

• Shauna: These have a nice, spicy "secret seasoning;" they wouldn't tell us what's in it, but they did give us some to take home.

• Polly: I asked the chef what was in the spices. "Secrets," he said.

Thick "Spoonable" milkshake ($3.75):

• Shauna: My mini chocolate version truly was thick and "spoonable" – you would really have to let it melt to drink it through a straw. It was rich and creamy – a nice treat.

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(Photo: The Enquirer / Shauna Steigerwald)

Nosh

This is more like a stand than an actual restaurant; it's also in the area that families can visit. We only sampled a couple of desserts there: The bonzo cake, a brownie topped with cheesecake and chocolate mousse, and the shortcake, which was basically a berry tart. Both were good; we had bite-sized versions, but these weren't so sweet that we wouldn't be able to finish our own.

• Polly: They have Peet's coffee. That would get me out and hitting the slots in a frenzy. Especially with those desserts on top.

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(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

• You can also get Belterra Park's house-made gelato at Nosh. (It's also available in the Market Buffet.) There are fresh-tasting, fruity flavors such as lemon and red raspberry (you would never know it was sugar free), plus creamy dark chocolate and a nice creamy coffee flavor – all were good.

• Shauna: This had a nice, earthy mushroom flavor. Served warm, it was simple and good.

Mashed potatoes:

• Shauna: These were, again, simple – just skin-on mashed potatoes – but they were delicious. It doesn't hurt that they're made with heavy cream. I ate more than I should have, and could have kept going ...

Bread pudding:

• Shauna: This had a smooth, custard-y consistency and was kept nice and warm on the dessert buffet. It's served with a sweet caramel sauce, but it's not toothache-sweet. Definitely one of my favorites of the day.

Red snapper:

• Shauna: This was not as moist as I would have liked. (To be fair, it's hard to do fish on a buffet.) I'd pass on this next time, though.

Sushi:

• Polly: I kind of wish buffets didn't try to do sushi. It wasn't especially good.

Middle Eastern choices:

• Polly: There were nice choices here; I liked the vegetable dish with eggplant and potatoes, plus there's a nice biryani.

Pastas:

• Polly: They basically cook these to order; I think I'd hit this station first for alfredo or mushroom carbonara.